She’d already had the dwarf seated at what would apparently be his desk once he’d passed my test, so I went over to greet him and began the process. He didn’t hesitate for a second to echo Talína’s oath and answered all the same questions I’d put forth to her truthfully. While I was curious as to why he’d chosen to join me, I skipped over that line of inquiry and welcomed him into my service once the issue of his loyalty was addressed.
“I’d like to spend some more time with you, but I have a rather urgent issue to attend to,” I told him as I shook his hand. “Talína can help you get oriented and see that everything is in order.”
“Thank you, Empress,” he replied earnestly. “I’m honored to be in your service.”
With my lone obligation handled, I left immediately for the Garrison to seek out whatever had killed our patrol the day before. I was somewhat surprised as I set off that my only company was my normal guard detail. None of the others, not even Tási, had been waiting for me as they’d promised—I should have known better.
As soon as I left my residence and descended to the barracks level, all of them were there waiting for me. In addition, a full second detail of my personal guard was with them, and I noticed for the first time that the uniforms they wore were slightly different that day. While the half-capes they had on were still emerald green, the silver trim and white embroidery of their rank and insignia were all done in black.
“What’s with this?” I asked Ella as I fingered the altered trim of her cape.
“Something Birt added,” she smiled grimly. “For days when we truly mean business.”
It was an interesting touch, and the deep black accents lent a certain menacing air that the more formal and reserved colors of their typical uniforms lacked.
“I assume that you’re coming too?” I asked her next.
“The entire unit wanted to come with you today,” she smiled again, more pleasantly this time. “I had to order the rest to stay behind.”
“Well then, let’s get started,” I said as I led them down the stairs.
The procession that ensued was quite impressive, as twelve of my personal guard quickly moved to encircle me as we made our way down. I addition, all of my companions in their own God-forged armor walked along with us, each with their own detail of three personal guards. In all, 33 of us, the least well-equipped of whom were clad in Dwarven Steel chain under Khelduin plates, marched down the stairs together. Stel’s armor, while not God-forged, was particularly well-made. Hilgreth and Georl had seen that he received their best work and given him his own set of Khelduin plates and chain. Combined with Bastion’s Reckoning, his shield, it made for a most impressive display.
We marched at a brisk pace towards the Garrison gate, where Evans himself awaited us with his own squad of troops to add to our burgeoning numbers. The red-caped soldiers fell in line with my green-clad guards and the blue-clad soldiers of my companions’ protectors as we strode on through the gates—a smaller group followed closely behind, pulling a wagon to retrieve our dead.
The lone survivor had been unable to relate what had happed to his compatriots or even where their slaughter had taken place, so all we could do was follow the road towards the Outpost and see what we could discover for ourselves.
I can see little beneath the trees, Sintári, Bane’s voice came to me from high above.
‘Be careful, Bane. This is a dangerous mission were on,’ I cautioned him.
Yes, I know, he replied with some amusement. Tási was kind enough to inform me of what has happened.
I was grateful for her consideration, but it should have been me who thought to invite him along. In my haste and with my mind preoccupied with so many other things, I’d simply forgotten. Part of me still overlooked him when it came to such things. I still had the image of Bane as my tiny Rhastoren companion who perched on my shoulder stuck in my head, but those days were long gone, and the transformation that I’d initiated had caused him to grow into a massive and powerful creature, more than capable of taking care of himself.
‘I’m sorry about that, Bane,’ I sent him. ‘I should have told you myself.’
She told me you were a bit… distracted, Sintári. I understand.
I imagined that Tási had probably described my mood in somewhat more colorful terms, but I didn’t press Bane any further, and let him continue with his scouting. Aside from my silent communication with Bane, there was little discussion among us, and considering the unknown nature of the threat we faced, the lack of conversation was understandable.
It was nearly two hours before we came upon the scattered corpses of our dead. As we came around a slight bend in the road, the bodies of eleven fallen soldiers lay strewn across the packed earth of the trail.
Their bodies had been cruelly hacked to pieces, rendering them beyond the power of resurrection magic, even if we’d arrived in time to try. Too much time had passed for even the power of Death’s Embrace to restore one of them, as its magic, like all resurrection magic, had to be invoked within the first few hours after death. After that, the essence of the fallen had been separated from the material world for too long, and reuniting it with the body was impossible.
Despite their gruesome state, we began to examine the corpses for any clues about what had taken their lives. It seemed apparent that whatever had killed them had attacked viciously, and little could be determined from the jagged rents that were torn in their flesh until I noticed something suspicious.
“Tell me if you see what I see,” I said as I waved over Tási and Ella.
When they joined me, I pointed at the severed leg of the soldier I’d been examining.
“I’m not sure what you’re looking at,” Tási remarked.
“The wound was not caused by a blade or other slashing means,” I explained. “At least not until after her death.”
As I spoke, I withdrew one of the Khelduin arrows from my Quiver and lined it up with the narrow channel I had noticed in the middle of the severed limb; the arrow and its shaft matched almost perfectly with the deep, penetrating wound that the slashing damage had intended to conceal.
“They were shot, and then hacked apart to hide who had done this,” I concluded. “This attack was not perpetrated by some monster or bandit gang—this was done by an enemy who felt the need to hide its identity from us.”
“Sounds like someone we already know,” Ella commented.
“Gilfri,” Tási added, unnecessarily.
“How did you know to look for this?” Ella questioned me.
“Because I’ve done the same thing myself,” I replied to her flatly as they both looked at me in surprise.
We informed everyone else of what we’d found, and tried to decide how we would proceed while a few of the guards and soldiers searched the area for any signs of a trail left by Gilfri’s killers.
“It’s not likely that we face a large force,” Stel mused. “Not only would it be difficult to hide from us, but the fact that one of the soldiers escaped what appears to be a well-planned ambush seems to indicate that our foes are small in number as well.”
“Or perhaps only a small number of our foes took part in this ambush,” Broda countered.
“That is a rather excellent point,” Stel conceded.
“Tási,” I turned to her as I remembered her spells. “Considering the fact that we’re facing at least several archers, perhaps you should cast your reflect Spell on as many of us as possible.”
She nodded and immediately began casting her magic, and I wasn’t surprised when the icon appeared in my UI indicating that she had shielded me first. My own Shield Spell only worked against projectiles that came straight on, but I cast it on myself anyway for the added protection it would provide. Unfortunately the Spell was self-cast only, or I would have placed it on Tási as well.
While the assailants had attempted to mask their trail, their efforts were not entirely successful, and the guards were able to pick it up after a bit of searching. From the r
oad, it appeared that they had headed due east, back towards Olóra, and we began tracking them cautiously into the forest while the small group of soldiers we left behind started placing the remains in the cart they’d brought.
‘We’re looking for a band of elves, and it seems like they went east, Bane,’ I informed him as he continued to circle lazily overhead. ‘See if you can find any sign of them.’
I will find them for you, Sintári, he promised as he wheeled himself towards the rising sun.
We hadn’t gone far when I heard the sound of arrows whistling through the air. A series of cries rang out from all around as some of them struck home among us, while others were reflected back at our unseen attackers. I rolled to the side and ducked behind the cover of a tree just before three shafts struck the ground where I’d been crouching.
I only had a general idea of where the shots had come from, but that was more than enough for me to retaliate. As the shots and cries of pain echoed through the trees, I drew one of my Khelduin arrows, imbued it, and fired it in the area where I’d seen a flicker of movement seconds before. The shaft punched into the trunk of the tree I’d been aiming at with a loud ‘thunk,’ and the concussion of the Shockwave arrow I’d fired immediately tore through the surrounding forest. Although my proficiency with the talent wasn’t all that high, the added force that Retribution applied turned what should have been a relatively mild concussive wave into a maelstrom of pure destruction.
Tree limbs snapped with a series of loud cracks, and small bushes were nearly uprooted as the force of the violent impact rebounded through a large section of forest. Screams of pain and agony followed immediately in the wake of the devastation, and I rushed from behind my cover to capitalize on the confusion I’d caused.
Several arrows tracked me as I ran, one bounced off my Shield, and another was reflected back by Tási’s magic, resulting in a satisfying grunt of pain coming from off in the distance. As I reached the border of the devastation I’d created, I saw Bane’s form hurtle down from above and into the underbrush nearby, followed by another terrified scream that was abruptly cut off amid the sounds of rending flesh.
As I turned back to look over the destruction in front of me, I began searching for any foes, but all I found were the dead and dying. I quickly counted seven figures scattered about the immediate area, and none of them looked to be long for this world—the concussive wave had shattered their bodies and strewn them across the ground. With no threats left to deal with among the fallen, I ducked back into the undergrowth to seek out another target, but it seemed that our foes had been beaten back by our counterattack. The only movements I could detect were my companions and our soldiers tending to our wounded and rounding up a few of our enemies.
Stel quickly set a perimeter around us and I walked over to where Tási and Venna were looking after the injured. Although many had been saved by Tási’s reflection Spell, several had still been hit by the enemy’s initial salvo, and a couple had also been wounded in the close fighting that had followed once they’d engaged with our foes. Worst of all were the two who’d fallen in the ambush. One of the red-caped soldiers, and heartbreakingly, Rhia as well.
Fortunately, their fatal wounds were well within the boundaries of resurrection magic, and I wasn’t forced to decide between them. If one had suffered injuries like those that had been inflicted on our dead back on the road, I would have had to use all three charges of Death’s Embrace to raise them, leaving nothing for the other.
“Welcome back, Rhia,” I said as her eyes fluttered open.
“What h-happened?” She replied in confusion.
“You took an arrow,” I said as I held up the shaft that I’d ripped out of her neck.
“It was about the only thing that ever shut you up,” Ella taunted Rhia as she sat up.
“I don’t remember anything,” she whispered.
“No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” I remarked. “I think you died rather quickly.”
“Wait… I died?” She asked incredulously.
“Yes, Rhia, you died, and I’ve just brought you back.”
She looked perplexed as the implications slowly dawned on her, and I left Ella to watch over her as I went to question the prisoners. I would have preferred to help Rhia deal with her trauma, but the need to find out just what we were up against was more urgent at the moment.
“Bring her over here,” I said, motioning to the lone female that sat bound between two male prisoners. Had we captured only men, I would have gone ahead and questioned one of them, but I already knew what I could do to a woman with my powers and didn’t want to waste time working with the unknown.
“Listen to me closely, because I’m only going to tell you this once,” I told her as I pushed her down roughly against the base of a tree a short distance away from the others. “I can tell if what you say is true or not, and I will make you pay dearly for every lie that you speak. I will ruin you if that’s what it takes to find out what I need to know, so it’s up to you whether or not you make that necessary.”
“I will tell you nothing, drassí,” she spat back at me.
“It means ‘worthless’ in our old language,” Venna informed me from over my shoulder.
I turned to look back at her and saw that she and Tási had followed me when I dragged the prisoner away for questioning. While Tási’s presence was no surprise, Venna’s certainly was, as she seemed to lack the stomach for the brutality I was about to inflict on the elven woman.
“I’m going to start doing very unpleasant things now, Venna,” I warned her. “You may wish to leave.”
“I need to see this,” she replied with no small amount of reservation. “At least once.”
“Then I will give you the same warning I gave Tási,” I told her firmly. “Don’t say a word, and if you object to anything I do, I will toss you as far away from here as I can throw you.”
“I understand,” she replied as she swallowed hard in anticipation of what she was about to witness.
“May I say something to her before you begin?” Tási surprised me by asking.
I simply motioned for her to proceed and listened closely to what she said to the elven woman.
“She has broken people with what you are about to endure,” Tási told her. “You cannot hope to resist the forces that are about to be unleashed on you. She will get what she wants, eventually. The only question is what will be left of you once she does.”
“Fuck you,” the woman spat back. “I know you’re just her little whore. Go back and hide on your island and let the real people of Arrika tend to our affairs.”
“I tried,” Tási sighed as she stepped away from the vile elf.
“You seem to be in a rather foul mood,” I said as I knelt down beside the prisoner. “It must be quite some time since you’ve felt anything pleasant. With a face like yours, I understand why that might be the case. Perhaps this will help.”
I slipped off my glove while I spoke to her and then trailed a finger across her cheek before letting it slip down to the softer skin of her neck. She fought me for an instant, but was simply incapable of resisting the raw energy I sent flowing into her and seized up almost immediately as spasms of ecstasy rushed through her body.
“Tell me when you want me to stop,” I whispered as I continued to fill her with desire, but she only uttered a series of low moans as her body quivered and the unrestrained waves of passion brought her to an almost violent release.
“Seems like someone likes their drassí well enough,” I remarked as her head drooped and she recovered from the onslaught that I’d unleashed on her.
“Now, will you talk, or do I have to show you my other side?”
“Keep your filthy hands off me,” she barely whispered.
“No, see, that was the wrong answer,” I whispered back to her as I slit open her shirt and placed the palm of my hand against her skin.
Her screams echoed through the forest as I shoved a wide tendril of rage deep inside he
r body. I guided the thick band of black anger around inside her and wrapped it around the bones of her forearm before pulling it tight and shattering both of them in a burst of power. The pitch of her pained cries rose several octaves as her bones were reduced to dust, and I withdrew the tendril and waited while she recovered once more.
“You’ve only tasted the least of my power, sweetling,” I whispered to her again when she regained her wits. “Do I need to start again at the beginning, or will you talk now?”
“What are you?” She gasped between breaths.
“I am Sintári, and that is all you need to know.”
“You cannot be,” she replied in disbelief. “Only my people can bear that title.”
“What if I can prove it to you?” I asked her as I seized on the opening she’d left for me. “Would you cooperate with me then?”
“It can’t be true,” she only muttered to herself.
“You have been lied to; misled,” I told her. “I will give you just this one chance to open your eyes before I continue.”
I pressed my hand against her chest once more, but instead of sending her pleasure or pain as I had done before, I fed her the unfiltered images of my power and my own memories of some of the meetings I’d had with Nentai. If seeing those for herself, along with the undeniable reality that the memories themselves conveyed didn’t convince the elf of who I was, then there was no hope at all. After providing more than enough evidence, I finally ended the display and waited for her response.
“Were those real?” She asked me shakily when I pulled away my hand.
“You tell me,” I asked in return.
“They felt real,” she whispered.
“They are,” I confirmed to her. “This is no trick.”
“He told us you were a fraud,” the woman said slowly. “Weak and inferior, like all humans.”
“You should know that none of that is true,” Venna said over my shoulder. “This woman is the strongest person I have ever met, even before she was Sintári and came into her powers.”
“Would a fraud own this?” I said as I lifted the hand of her undamaged arm and placed it on the sleeve of Melía’s Armor.
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